tushanshu_logs | Event | Landfall | Bresilyk

Event | Landfall | Bresilyk | Markutte

Characters: Any and all!
Date: December 3 - 11, 2013
Location: Markutte, Bresilyk (landfall)
Situation: Tu Vishan makes landfall at the winterbound republic of Bresilyk!
Warnings/Rating: Please include warnings in comment subject lines

OOC Post | Approved Items | Special Gifts
Aihsohlow | Phorezton | Markutte | Countryside

The commerce town of the tried. Temperatures within the dome are kept at a lofty 18C (62F) year round and the population of Markutte dresses less in furs and more in linens obtained through trade. Their long hair is frequently shorn short in the current fashion and they are, on the whole, less hardy than their kin in Phorezton and Aihsohlow, but even more friendly as they are currently in the throes of the Harvest Haul, a festival that concludes their rare growing seasons and agricultural bounties.

Trade. That's the foundation of Markutte and there are three town squares that are home to transient stalls and merchandise from the country and all surviving areas of Konryu. Many kedan have made their way here and occupy the occasional stall space, selling their wares and exchanging gifts with the citizens as they grasp the nature of the festival underway. Once again, visitors that make the trek here are expected to donate a gift that will be regifted at random, earning access and a stamp of their tin visa that resembles the oblong crystal coin used as currency in this realm.

Police are on the lookout for financial crimes here and will demand visas of any they suspect to be committed fraud, short-selling merchants, or thieving in any way, shape, or form. There are three vistas, one in each market square, upon which heralds stand and announce the crimes and punishments noted of the previous day. Minor theft is common and the punishment is a brand upon the criminal's neck; major theft results in a loss of a finger for each item stolen; fraud here is punishable by death, but only twice will there be an announcement of an execution during the landfall.

The auctions here are quite lively and characters can expect a minor bidding war to obtain their items, but each item is in pristine condition and provided to them wrapped within a thin set of furs as a thanks for their purchase.

Customs | Settlement | Auctions | Harvest Haul | Other

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

As someone who had always wanted to travel abroad, but had never really found a good opportunity for it, Barnaby was actually pretty interested in what he'd discover in this new place. Figuring the auctions would shed some light on the culture, Barnaby had already started venturing through the stalls, gazing at the different items on display.

To be honest, he hadn't anticipated on buying anything. He'd always gravitated toward a starkly minimalist lifestyle. Aside from food, clothing, and shelter, humans really didn't need that much to live. With so few personal attachments, he hadn't had much reason to keep a lot of sentimental tokens, either.

But then something caught his eye, and he was stunned to find an eerily familiar stuffed bunny rabbit staring back at him with its little blue eyes. That was one of the last things he'd expected to find here, because it meant someone had seriously gotten their grubby hands on his personal belongings.

Wow, these auctioneers sure weren't creepy or anything.

Well, was he really going to let some stranger walk off with it? Please. Which was why he adjusted his glasses and raised his hand to place a bid. Thankfully, a toy wasn't half as interesting or useful as some of the other things being auctioned off, and he was soon rewarded by a large, pink stuffed animal that was difficult to miss or ignore, much less in the arms of a 26-year-old man.

Mark recognizes the blonde guy from his video post. The superhero with no superhero name. The one who does it for money. But as he isn't Invincible right now, just Mark Grayson, he doubts the guy would know who he is. Still, he figures he should go over and say hi anyway, and is about to say hello when he notices the thing in the man's arms.

"That's... a big bunny."

Mark barely manages to keep his tone neutral. Because... what's up with the bunny, dude?

Not that Mark should talk. He's currently wearing a top he won from home (although thankfully with long pants this time). Is it too cold for sleeveless? Absolutely. But Mark doesn't have so much as a goosebump. Thank you, alien physiology.

As it turns out, Barnaby doesn't quite recognize Mark, although it's not difficult to gather that they both came from Tu Vishan.

"Tell me about it," Barnaby sighs, as if he's so put out by the whole ordeal. "I didn't really anticipate having to carry this thing around, but it can't be helped, I guess."

Of course, the shirt doesn't go unnoticed, and he half expects the guy to start shivering, although there's no indication that he's cold. Barnaby keeps his best poker face, but there's still one thought on his mind: What on earth is that even about?

Mark looked between the bunny and Barnaby, finding it harder to keep his voice neutral, though more because this is a very bizarre conversation to be having with another grown man.

"You... uh... won it in the auction I'm guessing?"

Mark shifted from one foot to the other. What do you say about a giant bunny without sounding like a huge jerk?

"Yes," he confirmed. "Thankfully, it didn't cost much." The only thing that could have made this whole ordeal even more of a nuisance would have been if he'd gotten into a ridiculous bidding war over it.

Barnaby noticed the shift in the other man's weight, and he could faintly pick up on some of his discomfort. The awkwardness was entirely one-sided, though. His own self-confidence was made of sturdier stuff than to be shaken by a stuffed animal.

"Actually, this is something of mine from back home," he added. And it was true. It even smelled fresh and clean, with just a hint of the high-end fabric conditioner he always used to make is as soft as ever. "I have no idea how the people here managed to steal it."

Because he wasn't going to mince words. Stealing was the only way to describe it, especially since he'd had to use his own hard-earned juulan to get it back. What a racket.

It wasn't so much discomfort so much as unsure of what to say. If this grown man wanted to own a giant pink bunny, it was well within his rights... he just didn't know how to talk about it without sounding like he thought it was weird (though it kind of was) or he was judging him or whatever.

"I don't think they stole it. Not on purpose anyway." Mark ran his thumb across the bottom hem of his shirt. "Foreigner stuff always shows up during landfall."

Though this was the first time anything of his has shown up. Mark would be lying if he said he hadn't been shocked, seeing his old shirt from his brother's planet up for sale like that. But how could these people possibly have known it was his?

"This is the first time we've had to pay for it, though..."

Oh good, so he had more of this to look forward to in the future. This had to be someone's idea of a joke. Maybe if he was lucky, he wouldn't have to bear the misfortune of having to shell out anymore money for something that was in the first place...

"Does anyone have any idea why that happens?" he asked. "Our things showing up during landfall, I mean."

Man, all these newbies were asking these great questions lately that he didn't know the answer to. Did he question anything about his time here? Apparently not if the fact he couldn't answer any of these questions from other people...

"If they did, no one's told me." Once, he'd like to actually be able to answer these. He tugged at his shirt. "This is the first time I've gotten something from home, so to be totally honest I've never really paid attention to this side of landfall before..."

"I personally don't own many things, so whether I'll find more of my possessions in the future could probably go either way for me," he admitted.

On one hand, he had fewer things to get pulled here. On the other, he had fewer things to start with, so the idea of eventually finding everything he owned wasn't out of the realm of possibility.

Great.

When the guy referred to his shirt, Barnaby eyed it, but refrained from passing judgement. It was way too busy for his own liking, but who even knew the story behind that thing? More importantly, he still didn't get why he wasn't freezing his arms off. Maybe the guy had some kind of NEXT power that kept him warm. Or maybe he just had that much self-discipline, although it was a weird way to show it...

"Is what you're wearing significant somehow?" he asked. "The main reason I bought this back--" Barnaby nodded toward the stuffed animal. "--was because it was originally a gift." If it had just been one of his t-shirts, Barnaby probably wouldn't have bothered.

"It's actually kind of nice, finding your things. Reminding you of home... The longer you're here, the more homesick you get."

Mark thought about the things he owned back home. He never really thought he had that much, but the longer he took a mental inventory of what was in his room, the more he realized he had. Jeez, how did he have so much stuff in one room?

"I'd actually love to get more things from home. Decorate my suite with it. I've been here a while but the suite still doesn't feel much like home..."

Mark froze when the other man asked about his shirt. It was a perfectly fair question, but how exactly do you explain that you're wearing the traditional shirt for royalty of an alien race of mantis people?

...With a half-truth, he guessed. "My brother... my half-brother, rather... his mom, uh, made it for me."

Was it really so nice? Barnaby didn't think so, but then most people had family and friends waiting for them back home. With Kotetsu here, all he had in Stern Bild was his work, as well as the things housing memories of people long gone. If he wanted to be perfectly honest with himself, the thought of anyone else handling his treasured possessions without his permission made his stomach turn.

On the other hand, he realized most people weren't nearly so selective about what they kept in their home, so of course they wouldn't be quite so protective of their stuff (barring a few exceptions, anyway).

As far as Barnaby was concerned, though, there was no need to try to make this his "home", even if he believed the best course of action was to make a life here. But his needs were simple enough. A secure place, a blank wall and a mostly-empty room were all he needed to feel at ease. Even so, not everyone wanted to live that way, which was perfectly fine as long as it didn't wash over into his life.

"I can't say I relate," he admitted. "But good luck with that anyway."

The explanation behind the shirt was pretty mundane, considering the unusual design. Maybe Mark's family just had an odd sense of aesthetics. "You must like showing it off," he calmly remarked, "seeing how you're not covering it up with a coat or anything."

"That's pretty much all it is--luck. I've been here six months, and I think this is my third landfall and this is the first time anything of mine has shown up." Mark tilts his head slightly, looking at Barnaby. "Why, do you not want your stuff?"

It wasn't something Mark could say he could understand. Pretty much everything he owned to some extent had sentimental value, and the thought of getting something from home, a reminder of a memory or a person or a particular time in his life was something he welcomed with open arms. While he could understand in theory that some people might not want reminders from home, he just couldn't see why.

At the remark about the coat, Mark looks around at everyone in coats and and hats and generally looking cold. Crap. Ever since his powers manifested, he hadn't been affected by the outside temperature. Yet another thing he chalked up to his half-Viltrumite physiology. When he had won the shirt, he hadn't thought twice about taking off the coat he had been wearing for appearances sake, and completely forgot about putting it back on. Crap crap crap.

"What can I say, I have good genes," he said with a sheepish smile. "To be honest, it made me miss my brother, and I just... put it on."

Crap crap crap crap crap.

Edited 2013-12-24 15:46 (UTC)

"I wouldn't say that," Barnaby answered without missing a beat. "It's just that I'd rather not let strangers rifle through my things. Not only that, but if my possessions appear during landfall, there's no guarantee I'll find them before we leave. Besides, if we're eventually able to return home, I imagine there's a chance my items will remain in this world instead of going back with me."

It was better to leave things well enough alone, in his opinion.

When Mark tried to explain why he wasn't wearing a coat, Barnaby thought he would have sounded more convincing if he just hadn't said anything at all. Good genes? Yeah, sure, that didn't sound strange at all.

"I've heard people say they're accustomed to cold weather because they're from a a place with subzero temperatures, but I've never met someone with a natural immunity to it," Barnaby easily said.

"I guess." Mark just shrugged; he was okay with agreeing to disagree on this subject. "I just sort of assumed things would go back when you did."

Wow that lie was awful, if anything the guy was looking at him more suspiciously now. Maybe he should tell the truth. I mean, the guy was a superhero too, right? But, could the guy keep a secret? The guy's code name was his actual name. Did they even have code names where he was from? Would he understand the importance of a secret identity?

More importantly, could he save himself from this awful lie? He was from Baltimore for crying out loud. He couldn't exactly say that it was the land of the polar bears.

"Really? I've always assumed it was something you could inherit... I was always bad at science..."

Stop digging your grave deeper, Mark.

That was an awful lot of faith to place in people who had essentially kidnapped them, but if that was how he chose to operate, then that was his business. Barnaby, on the other hand, saw no reason to give the Emperor any benefit of the doubt until she gave him a reason.

And in that same vein, he wasn't going to take this guy at his word, either. Not with that kind of flimsy excuse. Honestly, did he think Barnaby was an idiot?

"If it's because you have some kind of unusual ability or power, you might as well just say so," Barnaby told him with the politest tone he could muster. "Either that, or you should consider trying to blend in a little more."

Dear god he had to work on this. This was a disaster. At this point, all he could really do was fess up. This guy was a superhero, he'd at least understand the concept of a secret identity... right?

"We, uh, might have talked before about corporate heroism." Mark was looking anywhere but Barnaby. His eyes fell on the bag holding his coat and he quickly put that back on. "I might have looked different at the time."

When the other shoe finally dropped, everything fell into place. Barnaby hadn't forgotten that conversation. The man, at least, had been fairly reasonable, even if he hadn't initially understood the brand of heroism Barnaby represented.

"I see." Well, at least he was taking his advice about blending in now. If he didn't want to have a repeat of this conversation with someone who had ill intentions, hopefully he'd remember that tidbit in the future.

"You seem to have something in common with my partner, then," Barnaby added. "What you do with your name is your business, though, so if you're worried, I have no intention of doing anything that could compromise that."

"That's between us though, okay?" It was always easier, admitting to other superheroes who he really was. After all, they would understand better about the whole secret identity thing.

Once his coat was properly zipped, he looked back over at Bunny. When he said partner... "Like you're a team, or...?" Not that Mark had a problem with that. It was just too hard to tell what 'partner' meant these days.

"I understand," Barnaby said. Just because he didn't have a secret identity didn't mean he was incapable of getting why other people would use an alias, so he had no intention of questioning Mark's choices or his request for silence.

As for his partner, there were so many layers to their relationship that Barnaby couldn't truthfully describe it in solely professional terms. Of course, saying they were "friends" didn't sound accurate, either.

So, he gave an answer that he felt was most relevant to the conversation at hand. "We became the world's first superhero duo where we're from."

Mark nodded at Barnaby's sort-of promise. That was good enough for him. He just had to be sure, even if he was doing a spectacularly horrible job of keeping his identity a secret... he still liked to pretend his secret was as strong as it had been back home. ...Where the whole world knew his first name was Mark (but not who he was under the mask or where he lived) and knew his father was Omni-Man... the less said about him right now, the better. He didn't want to depress himself.

"Oh really? Awesome. I can't say I've ever heard of a duo before. Only teams or team-ups." Or couples like him and Eve, but even then that would still technically fall under team up, as they didn't fight together all the time.

The way the conversation shifted away from Mark wasn't lost on Barnaby, but he decided to let it go for now. There wasn't any reason to throw a bunch of personal questions at someone who clearly didn't want to talk about it. And if, for some reason, Barnaby later decided he ought to know more, he could find a way around that later.

As for the duo thing, "awesome" was...one way to describe it, sure.

"Never?" he asked. With the way heroes seemed to run around unchecked in this guy's world, he was surprised someone hadn't gone that route. "Well, I suppose most people would prefer temporary team-ups over something more long-term."

"None that I can remember, anyway..." And Mark was really trying to think of some. "I can't speak for the others, but I'm not much of a team player... though I agreed to help them whenever they needed it." Them being the Guardians of the Globe, his world's premiere super team. Mark was attempted subtlety, mainly because he wasn't in costume. It was nearly lost on him that it was a very thinly veiled conversation in a crowded place, so his subtlety was pretty moot.

At least he was trying?

"Fair enough," he said, easily following Mark's lead by not going into too many specifics himself. "For a lot people, that's probably the most efficient way to go about things."

Barnaby wouldn't have wanted to be a team player, either, if his job hadn't mandated it. Of course, looking back, he's actually pretty happy he and Kotetsu became partners.

Mark found it easy to talk to him about the whole superhero thing. Neither was trying to push the other into giving too much information, and they were just... talking. Like it was any other job in the world.

"So, uh, what's it like? To have a partner like that?" He'd be lying if he said he wasn't curious.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Event | Landfall | Bresilyk | Markutte

Barnaby Brooks Jr. | Tiger & Bunny | OTA

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